How did Hindus Become Vegetarians?

If the Aryas ate meat and beef, how did Hindus become VegetariansIt would have been extremely difficult, in fact almost impossible, to have been a vegetarian in Vedic times anywhere in the world. Almost all the fruits and vegetables, so commonly available today, had not been domesticated to be fit for human consumption while cereals, the only vegetarian food that could be stored to eat at a later time, were very scarce till about 4,000 years ago when they first appeared with the Harappans and then slowly spread to other areas. The Harappans only had barley, millets and a little wheat. Rice only came to India from south East Asia very much later.

Furthermore if the Aryas had been a nomadic people, they would never have stayed long enough at any place to cultivate cereals or any other crops. The wandering tribes would have certainly picked up wild seasonal fruits, vegetables, edible roots and leaves but these were very poor and unpredictable sources of food until they were especially domesticated for higher yields. And they were also usually very scarce in winter and summer. So meat and milk products must have been the main staples of their diets.

The Rigveda, as one of India’s earliest texts, gives numerous examples of meat eating with verses giving clear instructions on how to slaughter, cook, cut and distribute the parts of horses and bulls at their sacrifices. Few people know that the Vedic Gaomeda, or cow sacrifice, was a standard ritual for important sacrifices like the Rajsuya yagna (consecration of rulers) or that the royal ritual of Ashwameda ended with the slaughter of the consecrated stallion as is described in rather gory detail in CLXII- verses 9 to 22 of the Rigveda.

The Rigveda did not give very much importance to the cow though the bull and ghee, or clarified butter, were important. Horses were also accorded great importance. But Indra, the tawny bearded supreme Vedic god was specifically offered the best sides of beef. Only by the most extreme sophistry can the Vedic verses be interpreted to have any meaning other than the eating of beef. Hymns 86, verses 13 and 14 in book X can hardly be more explicit:

“Wealthy Vrasakpayi, blest with sons and consorts of thy sons, Indra will eat thy bulls, thy oblation that affecteth much. Supreme is Indra over all. Fifteen in number, then, for me a score of bullocks they prepare and I devour the fat thereof. They fill my belly full. Supreme is Indra over all. 

By Murad A Baigh